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MY DIARY SEPTEMBER, 2013 Hello! I'm Flash and I am a camera, but everybody calls me 'The Comenius mascot'. I was born in Spain, in Baudilio Arce School and I was created by Maria González, a student from year 6.
3 María González
Flash
So, I am the mascot of the Comenius Project titled: 'Travelling towards multicultural Europe'. The Comenius partners in our project are: UK: Botanic Primary School, Belfast, Northern Ireland Stanley Primary School, Blackpool, England. Poland: The Primary School in Sliedlin. Italy: Istituto Comprensivo G. Falcone, Catania, Sicily. Turkey: Vali Kutlu Aktas Ilkokulu, Izmir. Greece: The 10th Primary School, Thessaloniki Spain: CEIP Baudilio Arce School, Oviedo.
September is a busy month at school. Comenius partners have been working on their Comenius corners. They will be situated in an important place in each school where everybody can see it. The corners have a space to display, the flags of all partners,
a
poster with the title of the project, information about schools and countries and all the outcomes. They are fantastic! Here are some photos:
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Turkey
Poland
Northern Ireland
England
Greece
Italy
Spain
Spanish students are drawing their mascots for a contest. It's very exciting!
Oh! I've got many friends! Here are some photos of
the children's favourite mascots:
Final mascots Mascot 1
Mascot 2
Mascot 3
Mascot 4
5 Mascot 5
Mascot 6
Mascot 7
Mascot 8
Students from different countries will vote their favourite mascot using 'SurveyMonkey'.
And the winner is‌.. ME!
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
FLASH, the winning mascot!
OCTOBER, 2013 Oh! I've got an idea! I'm going to do the Comenius trip. I will travel through the countries collecting about culture, lifestyle, and relationships in each country; but I'll need transport! Plane, train, boat, car, bus, carriage and‌ hot air balloon!
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I love travelling!
I am still in Spain but the Turkish school has created the logo of the project in a democratic way, through a competition. It will be centred around the symbol of 'Travelling towards
multicultural
Europe', and will be displayed to promote the project in partner countries. The logo will be in all final products. Well done friends! It's amazing!
And the English school has created the blog of our Comenius project. And they will create the web page too!
I love the Comenius blog! 'TRAVELLING TOWARDS MULTICULTURAL EUROPE'! http://travellingtowardsmulticulturaleurope.blogspot.co.uk/ It is great! It's the title of the Project! I think it's going to be an amazing experience!
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FIRST WORKING MEETING! Wow! First Working meeting in The United Kingdom!
Teachers
from Italy, Greece, Poland, Northern Ireland, England and Spain will meet in Belfast and Blackpool for a week. Unfortunately, Turkish teachers had VISA issues.
First visit: Botanic Primary School. Belfast
8 Comenius partners
Botanic Primary School
Stormont Buildings
We are in Belfast! It is the first time we meet each other. Mr.Paul Bell and Mrs Nicola Henderson are our hosts. We have the oportunity to visit the school, observing lessons, work on the project, collect the information for second contacts in each school (to ensure our project work continue as planned in case of illness or absence). We also have the chance to visit Ashfield Girl's Hight School, the Titanic Museum, a tour around the city, Stormont buildings and meet the Junior Minister. It's amazing!
Second visit: Stanley Primary School. Blackpool.
Stanley Primary School
Working meeting
Harvest Festival performance
After a really lovely time in Belfast, we leave the hotel for Belfast International Airport for flight to Manchester at 7.05am. A busy morning! I am tired! We have arrived at Stanley Primary School. Mr Craig England (headmaster), teachers and students are waiting for us. They have prepared a traditional Harvest Festival performance by the infant children and an assembly about Blackpool by Year 5 children. I'm really happy because we have the chance to visit Blackpool Tower, Ballroom and Circus, as well as Blackpool Zoo; and also see the world-famous Illuminations and some illuminated trams. Time to back home! At the end of the meeting, we met Mr. England in London where we visited the HMS Belfast (a museum ship) and the most famous places of the city.
HMS Belfast
UNFORGETABLE!
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NOVEMBER, 2013 VIDEO-CONFERENCING All of the schools have been busy these past few days videoconferencing with one another. Unfortunately, the English and Northern Irish schools were having some technical issues, so didn't manage to chat. However, they have started correspondence by post and will be trying to video-conference again next week. That's great we can connect via Skype with other people and share information. What a lovely way to be in contact! New technologies are in the project!
Here are some photos 10
Schools will Skype once a month. I can wait for the next video-conferencing!
DECEMBER, 2013 December! We are getting ready for Christmas! I'm wearing my Father Christmas' clothes to send season's greetings to my friends.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Students from different schools are making Christmas cards
to
send to their new friends. And we also will send our best wishes through the Comenius blog.
Our Comenius project also has a nice web page created by the English school. https://sites.google.com/site/multiculturaleurope2013/
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JANUARY & FEBRUARY, 2014 MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS Schools are busy after Christmas time. They are gathering and collecting information about different kinds of transport (one for each country). They are preparing multimedia presentations (Power point, Slide Share, Slide boom) and wonderful scrapbooks.
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Each school will work on a kind of transport: Spain, the train; Italy, the car; Poland, the bus and the carriage; Turkey, the hot air balloon; Greece, the plane and U.K. (England and Northern Ireland), the boat.
Students are working on their scrapbooks to prepare their Multimedia presentation and via video-conference, they will present it to the rest of the schools. Have a look at these fantastic scrapbooks.
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MARCH, 2014 SECOND WORKING MEETING! I am in Izmir, Turkey It's a very nice country and people are friendly. Guess what! It's the second working meeting! Yes!!! Teachers from the UK, Italy, Poland, Greece and Spain will meet their Turkish colleagues at Vali Kutlu Aktas Primary School in Balรงova, Izmir. Mrs Meryem Demirkiram Soucas, the whole staff, parents and students are waiting for us.
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I was taking the photo!
There are many things to do and many places to visit!
Klutu Aktas Ilkokulu
Comenius corner
Lesson
15 Ephesus
Virgin Mary's house
Sirince
Our visit began with a day at school where we joined in with English lessons and children dramatized their information on hot air balloons. We attended a reception at the National Education Department; we worked on the project, evaluated all the activities different school has done since the last meeting and the blog's results. It was really nice to see the Schools' multimedia presentations. I especially enjoyed the lesson observation and the meetings with teachers, students and parents. And, of course, the Turkish delicious food, the city tour, our visit to the wonderful city of Ephesus, Virgin Mary's house, Sirince village and Kemeralti. WE WON'T FORGET THIS MEETING! Thank you!
APRIL, 2014 DRAMATISING READINGS Back home from Turkey and busy time again! It's time to do the 'Dramatising readings about the history of transport'. Pupils in each school will swap information compiled through the blog. Another school will dramatise the information, perform, record it and post the recording on the blog. They will be presented in the meeting in Catania. This is a nice way to learn more about transport.
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I am looking forward to watching each school's
dramatisation of the presentations they had been done.
MULTI-LANGUAGE DICTIONARY What a busy month! Students are compiling information about the vocabulary related
to the transport each school has studied in each partner's national language, to prepare a Multi-language dictionary
(English-
National languages) of names of vocabulary related to different transport The Polish school will be responsible for the presentation of the Multi-dictionary based on the contribution of all partners. I am excited!
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MAY, 2014 THIRD WORKING MEETING! After a lot of work at school, teachers will meet in Italy.
I am very excited! I'm going
to
pack my luggage! All schools will visit
Istituto
Comprensivo
Giovanni Falcone in Accicastello, Sicily. It is nice to meet Mr. Natalino Fraggetta (Principal), Mrs Caterina Scudery and the rest of the
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staff. What a wonderful place! We have the chance to visit three different schools and meet teachers, students and parents there. The Comenius corners and the classrooms are really nice. A lot of hard work!
We
were
all
looking
forward
to
watching
each
school
dramatization. Brilliant! Dramatising Readings
The
Polish
school
has
been
responsible for the presentation of the
Multi-language
dictionary
based on the contribution of all partners. I love it! During our visit we got to visit the Mayor of the town and he made us feel very welcome. Whilst we were at the school we got to meet lots of children and we visited lots of different classrooms. It has been fabulous
to
attend
the
concert
by the
School
Orchestra.
Congratulations! We have worked on the project and evaluated all the activities we have done since the last meeting. We also got to visit many beautiful places like Ottobrata, Taormina, Catania and Mount Etna. And, we also got to sample some of the local food. I love Italian food And gelato! Yummy!
AN AMANZING MEETING!
School Orchestra
Gelatto
Delicious Italian food
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JUNE, 2014 HISTORICAL MAGAZINE I am really happy to meet our Comenius friends in Sicily. During the meeting in Italy we have evaluated the project and planned the next activities. The main one will be
to
make a magazine compiling information on one aspect or period of the history of transport in each partner country. The Polish school will collect information from the partners about one significant event in the history of transport in their country and include within this information the impact it had in the partner country. The end of the scholar year is close and schools have a lot of work. It is a stressful
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time for everybody, also for me because I am
collecting
photos
from
different
countries to upload them on Drive. I believe it is the best way to share the photos and also documents. https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive And now‌. It's time to wish a nice summer. We need a rest because we have worked very hard! I am very proud of all partners and I hope they enjoy their summer holidays. SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER
SEPTEMBER, 2014 BACK TO SCHOOL! After our holiday, are you ready to work hard? There are many things to do before the next meeting in Poland. Italy coordinates video-conferences with each partner and feedback on these video-conferences to all partners on the blog. Students are waiting for next video-conference. Here you are the timetable for the scholar year:
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All Partners are recording a video about the school to present it in Poland and a song for 'The National evening'.
OCTOBER, 2014 FOURTH WORKING MEETING! Working meeting in Poland! Comenius partners are in Poland to attend the meeting at the Primary School in Siedlin, Szkola Podstawowa. It's nice to see everybody again!
22 The meeting began with a wonderful presentation of traditional Polish songs and dances and a performance about the magazine that the schools have all been involved in producing. Amazing! We visited the facilities
of
school,
in
participated
lessons and worked on the project. We also evaluated all the activities different schools have done since the last meeting and planned next activities.
The
Polish
Historical
school
Magazine
presented
the
based
the
on
contribution of all partners. It has been printed on high quality. You can see it on the blog. fantastic!
Congratulations!
It is
What can I say about the National evening with the headmaster, teachers, students, parents
and
members of the school council? We showed a presentation about each of our schools and then each school performed some traditional songs from their country. I love
the
Comenius song and the nice T-shirt! We visited Plonsk, Warsaw and Plock, and enjoyed the games in the forest and the carriage walk! We also went to visit the Major and the Commune Council.
CONGRATULATIONS FOR AN AMAZING MEETING!
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NOVEMBER, 2014 MINI-GUIDE After the last meeting, schools will prepare a mini-guide to compile the information about important facts one should know when planning to travel or live in another country: location, main historical
events,
places
to
visit,
traditions,
what
to
eat
(gastronomy), what to do (free time), where to sleep, relationships between people, etc. Every school will collect this information and post it in the blog to share with the rest of the schools; the Greek school will prepare a mini-guide based on the contribution of each country. A lot of work to do! Are you ready?
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DECEMBER, 2014 Christmas time again!
Everybody is busy at the moment working on the project.
Students
from different schools are
making
some Christmas cards to send to their friends. And we also will send our best wishes through the Comenius blog as we did last year. I have prepared a video to post it on the blog and send Season's greetings.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY new YEAR 2015!
JANUARY, 2015 After Christmas time, all partners are ready for next videoconferencing. Each country connects with another school once
a
month. We are seven different schools, so Spain (as coordinator) connects with two schools each month. We are very lucky!
VIDEO-CONFERENCING: JANUARY 2015 ! Spain-England ! Poland-Greece ! Northern Ireland- Turkey ! Italy-Spain
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WEB-QUEST On the other hand, the Greek school will be responsible for the preparation of a web-quest about the culture, lifestyle
and
relationships between citizens in each country. They will present it in the meeting in Thessaloniki. And all schools are very busy preparing a video about their school, to present it in the meeting in Greece.
Thessaloniki Oviedo
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Izmir Plonsk
Catania
I love it! I can't wait to meet everybody again!
Belfast
Blackpool
FEBRUARY, 2015 FIFTH WORKING MEETING!
Thessaloniki, Greece. M rs
Maria
Basmasidou
(headmistress) Mr. Kostas Okkaç, teachers and students are waiting for the Comenius partners who received a warm welcoming. Students performed some plays and sang songs. They
showed
us
traditional
Greek
dancing. They gave all us the olive wreath also known as kotinos (Greek: κότινος), the prize for the winner at the
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ancient
Olympic Games. It was an olive branch, of the wild- olive tree that grew at Olympia.
Everybody is very friendly here. We have received some handmade presents from the children while visiting different classrooms. THANK YOU!!!
We have worked on
the
project, evaluated the activities all partners have done since the last meeting and planned the next activities. Also, we visited other school and the Major of the town who made us feel very welcome.
The Greek school has been responsible for the presentation of the Mini-guide which all the schools have contributed to. It has been printed on high quality. Schools have received three mini-guides and a CD format. We will post it on the Comenius blog too. It will be very useful when planning to travel. The Greek school has also worked very hard on a Web quest. I believe that students from different schools will enjoy doing it. What can I say about the lovely time
we
spent at the theatre? Students and teachers put on an amazing musical performance and delivered a detailed history of the ancient Greeks. We also had the opportunity to present the videos about our schools. A wonderful experience! During our stay in Thessaloniki we got to visit many beautiful places: Mount Olympus and Dion which held the ancient burial site of Phillip II; pretty villages such as Litochoro and St Antonios; a tour of Thessaloniki; visiting the White Tower; Cathedral of Haghios and many interesting archaeological sites and museums.
THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL MEETING!
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MARCH, 2015 LIPDUB The meeting in Greece has finished. We have worked very hard, and we have enjoyed the time we spent in Thessaloniki. And now‌ it's time to think about the next activities we have to do before the conclusion of the project. LIPDUB
For instance: Working on a film lipdub that will be presented by all partners as a final product at the end of the project. I will show the way, and pupils and teachers will follow me showing how we have worked using art and music. Wow! It's going to be a wonderful
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experience! I am ready to do the Comenius trip again because I'm going to help all schools to film the video. I will follow next itinerary: Spain to Italy by train; Italy to Poland by car; Poland to Turkey by bus; Turkey to Greece by hot air balloon; Greece to UK by plane and UK to Spain by boat to complete the itinerary.
Northern Ireland is responsible for the editing of the lipdub. They
will compile all digital parts of the lipdub based on the work of all partners. Schools will send their videos via Dropbox that is a safe way to share them. LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
APRIL, 2015 SLOGAN & POSTER Also, we have to work on a Slogan related to a common idea of citizenship. Each school will work on the topic in assemblies in a democratic way. Students will create a sentence that condenses the idea they have about what is a European citizenship. They will tell me this idea and I will tell this information to students in the next country I will visit through my diary. Finally, we will create a common slogan. Here you are the slogans different schools have created: 'A community working together' (Northern Ireland) 'Always proud, always open-minded, always together' (England) 'Europe is well known for us today-Flash always shows us the way’ 'Being together to be better’ 'Thousand hearts beat for community’ 'All different, all equal, all together’ 'Building our path together’
Italy is responsible for the creation of a poster using new technologies. It will include the common SLOGAN based on the contribution of all partners; the logo of the project and also Flash, the mascot. Haha, Me!!! The slogan will be printed on high quality to send to all partners and to National Agencies. The Italian school will also create a pocket poster version, to distribute to pupils, teachers and other members of the scholar community. It's going to be great!
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MAY, 2015 THE MASCOT’S DIARY As everybody knows, I am writing a diary about all the activities different schools have done during the project. I believe that my diary is the best way to describe the project and all the experiences we have had since the beginning until the end of it. The project started in Sepember 2013 and finishes in June 2015. I have to finish and print the diary next month at the end of the last meeting that will be hold in Oviedo, Spain. I will be very busy because my diary will have a handmade cover. So I have to think about the materials I will use to make a nice cover; for instance, scrapbooking paper, colored paper, cards,
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fabric bows, glue, scissors, etc. So, it is going to be a stressful time for me. Do you like the materials I have chosen to make the cover?
DIARY
I have to finish the diary before the end of the project and also describe all the activities we will do during the meeting in Spain. The last thing I will do is attach some photos and make handmade cover.
the
Finally, I will present it
with the rest of the final products during the last meeting in Oviedo. Schools will get three diaries and a digital version. They will help to finish the diary! I believe it is a great idea! They will stick the cover! It is
very
exciting! I hope they like it! The cover of the diary is almost ready! Have a look at the materials I have used to make it!
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JUNE, 2015 FINAL WORKING MEETING!
Oviedo,Spain. The big day has arrived and everything is ready in Oviedo for the final meeting of our Comenius Project. M r s B e l ĂŠ n C a s t a Ăą o, o u r coordinator, arrives at
Baudilio
Arce school with the whole group (22 teachers
from
different
countries). Mrs Mercedes
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Rodriguez
( head
tea c h er),
teachers, some members of the Regional Education Department, students and parents are waiting for us. An Asturian bagpiper plays some traditional Asturian songs, and students from different levels welcome Comenius partners with the flags from their countries. Very nice Welcome Ceremony! It has been fantastic to stick the countries on the big map of Europe, also listen to the Welcome song and sing the lipdub song and the Comenius Project anthem! Hey, hey, hey, let's play, with Comenius is a funny way! Hahaha!
We visited the school and Comenius partners loved all the projects we have done. That's great! In the afternoon we visited the old city centre of Oviedo: The Cathedral, Fontán Square, Saint Francisco's park,
Campoamor
theatre… and had dinner at a typical Asturian Sidrería.
35 We have worked on the project, evaluated all the activities different schools has done since the last meeting and talked about the EST (European Shared Treasure). During the meeting we
have
presented the last final products: Our Final libdub (also schools lipdubs), the Slogan and poster. They are fantastic!
POSTER & LIPDUB
Students from Baudilio Arce school have prepared a Musical trip around the countries of our association. Our music teacher, Esther has helped them. It has been wonderful! Congratulations everybody!.
36 What about the trip to Covadonga, Ribadesella and
Lastres.?
Unforgettable! Asturian food is delicious and we had the chance to drink 'sidra' at Asturian style!
Covadonga
Lastre ssssssss s
To conclude the meeting, we worked on the final report: ! We evaluated the blog and web's results, and analysed the objectives of the project in order to ensure that all the objectives are fully met. ! We also talked about the development of the project and filled in the final report. The presentation of the mascot's diary was a special moment for everybody. The mascot wrote the diary and made a handmade cover. It is really nice and everybody liked it.
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The last day of our project has arrived! I can't believe it! And‌. Finally, the Summary of the discussions and final project activities: games and dances in the playground and some songs such as the Asturian anthem.. We have had a great time in Oviedo. Our Comenius partners have enjoyed all the activities we have prepared and we are really proud of our Comenius group. It has been a successful project. We hope we can do another one in the future. It's time to say good bye and conclude the meeting but I prefer to say‌.. SEE YOU SOON MY FRIENDS!
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SOME NICE MOMENTS
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UK: Botanic Primary School, Belfast, Northern Ireland Stanley Primary School, Blackpool, England. Poland: The Primary School in Sliedlin. Italy: Istituto Comprensivo G.Falcone, Catania, Sicily. Turkey: Vali Kutlu Aktas Ilkokulu, Izmir. Greece: The 10th Primary School, Thessaloniki Spain: CEIP Baudilio Arce School, Oviedo.
Edita: CEIP Baudilio Arce School Oviedo, Principality of Asturias, Spain